keep moving forward, a Pokemon fanfic
by beljasahn
Summary: One year after his friend, Ash Ketchum leaves for his adventure, Roger "Red" sets off on his. On the way he will meet friends and Pokemon alike to join him, and he will face many hardships. Does Red have the strength to keep on going though? Can he rise the to the challenges he meets, and keep moving forward?
1. Chapter 1 the adventure begins

Hey guy's this is something i've been working on for a while, and I didnt want it to go hidden beneath other stuff so... I put it on here!

Enjoy

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Chapter 1

Red sat on his bed, staring at the TV, the light casting odd shadows throughout his room. He was watching a repeat of the one-hundredth united league championships. So far, Jonathan's Gyarados was fighting Ashley's Absol, and seemed to be frustrated at the lack of success it was having. It fired hyper beam straight at the Absol, who simply leaped away from the attack and was further propelled by the explosion. It then fired a shadow ball right back at the Gyarados, which hit it in the face, it rolled back slightly stunned, and then Absol charged it, and slashed it across the chest. The Gyarados crumbled to the ground, and groaning and cheering echoed across the stadium as money exchanged hands and the end of the battle was declared, with Ashley cheering and ruffling the back of Absol's fur. Red smiled as he heard the commentator declare that Ashley was the winner and would now be heading on to the next level of the league. As far as he could remember Red had had an obsession with Pokemon, his mom had told him it ran in the blood, because she had met his dad on her Pokemon adventure, and so had his grandparents. So, he learned all he could about Pokemon, preparing for the day when he would go to professor Oak and get his starter, and then go out and have his adventure. Life hadn't been easy though. Due to his obsession the other kids in Pallet town called him weird, or nerd, or a neek. So he didn't have any friends, save one Ash Ketchup but he had left a year ago to go on his adventure. So he was often terrorized by the other kids. Red sighed as he realized that he had to be early to get to the professor's or else he would probably be stopped by the other children. Turning of the TV, he turned over and, despite his excitement from earlier, was out like a light.

The next morning, he woke up at 7:30, where he got dressed and ate breakfast with his mom, who smiled at him as he ate as fast as he could.  
"Slow down Roger, or you'll eat the plate by accident." She mock scolded. Red or 'Roger' as he was called by his family, merely glanced at her before slowing own a bit. "Yes mom." He mumbled around his sandwich,

"And don't speak with your mouth full!" she admonished. He sighed, before turning back to his meal. 'I wonder what Pokémon I will get, maybe a Squirtle. Or a Bulbasaur even, their pretty good. Or a Charmander! They're very awesome.' Red thought to himself as he finished off his meal. He went over to the entrance hall and began doing his shoes. However, before he left to go, his mom, called. "Hey Red?! Do be careful going up there! I'll be at the gate when you come down!"

"Okay! Thanks mom!" and with that, he opened the door. Shouldering his back pack, he strode out of his house, turned to look at the hill where Professor Oak lived, and started walking. On his way, he kept an eye out for the local bully, Johnny oak, Garry's younger brother, while Gary hadn't been out right mean to people just been quite cold and rude, his little brother was an outright cruel child, often known for beating up little kids or stealing things. He had a gang of friends with him nearly all the time, whom helped him with his behavior. He was the main perpetrator of all Red's bullying, so he kept a wary eye out for him. Then, just as he thought he was safe, Johnny and his friends came round the corner in front of him, on bikes. Red froze as he saw Johnny's eyes zero in on him like a Pidgeotto on its prey. "Hey guys look! It's the nerd! Where do you think you're going nerd? Gonna get your Pokemon? We already got ours and there are none left for you! So get lost kid!" The gang began to cycle towards Red, who panicked, and jumped out of the road. He rolled over the moment he landed and began running towards the lab. He knew the other kids were already turning, but didn't expect one to catch his leg so soon, he shouted in surprise but was already tumbling. The other kids dismounted and started to kick him. He protected himself as much as possible, knowing that if he didn't show any emotion, he might not get-  
"HEY! STOP THAT!" someone shouted, the boys immediately stopped and jumped back, thinking it was an adult, but when they all turned, they noticed it was just a teenager. He had short blonde hair that stuck up in all directions, and had sharp green eyes. He was glaring at the boys, who relaxed at seeing it wasn't a parent. Johnny sneered at the kid. "What you gonna do, make us?" he turned back to Red and kicked him again.  
"Yes, I will." He unclipped a pokeball from his belt and tossed it into the air. "Go! Pichu!" Out of the ball came a small, yellow rodent, with triangular ears that were held up rigidly. It shook its head slightly before looking at the scene, frowning, and straightening up. "Pich!" it called out, its cheeks glowing with static dangerously. The bullies turned and gave the stranger their full attention. "Alright then! If it's a battle you want then that's what you get, let's go guys!" all three pulled out pokeball's and tossed them into the air, from each came Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, respectively. The starter Pokemon growled as the saw their target, who despite the disadvantage it was at, firmly stood its ground.

"Alright Pichu use thunder wave!" the stranger called. "Charmander use Flamethrower!" "Bulbasaur Solar beam!" Squirtle hydro pump!" Red sighed in pity at the Pokemon, who merely looked confused at their trainers until the electric shock hit them. The thugs looked just as confused. "What?! Why didn't you guys attack?" the stranger chuckled,

"Don't you guys know anything? You've gotta train your Pokemon before they can use those moves. Gosh this is gonna be easier than I thought. Pichu, use charm!" the Pichu scrunched up its face a second, before pulling an adorable face. This lowered all the starters Pokemon's guard down, tricked by the Pokemon's cute face. Until….

"Now, use thunder punch!" the Pichu stopped pulling the face, just close enough to its opponents to leap onto them, which it did…with a fistful of lightning. The squirtle it was targeting was barely able to look up due to its paralysis, before it got a face full of thunder. It flew back to its trainer with swirls in its eyes. "One down two to go." The outsider said to himself. By now Red was able to get up, and stagger to the side, slightly in awe. He never knew that a Pichu of all things could actually use that kind of move! He watched as the two remaining thugs growled at the stranger, before commanding their own Pokemon. "Bulbasaur, get over yourself and use tackle!" "You too Charmander! Use head-butt!" Bulbasaur however, was still suffering from paralysis, and as such, barely moved before freezing up again. Charmander however, had more luck, and slowly dragged itself at the Pichu before speeding up and bending over, aiming at the Pichu. It managed to hit it, but to Red's surprise it held onto the charmander head as it slowed, whom then proceeded to give it a close quarter thunder shock to in exchange. The Charmander was blown back into the Bulbasaur, who was also gathering speed for its move, before both collided in a small cloud of dust. When it settled, the two starters were knocked out. The bullies gaped in disbelief at the fact that they had lost to a stranger, even with a three to one advantage! They recalled their Pokemon and made a mad dash for the professors lab, yelling that they would be back to get Red, whom had begun laughing on the floor at the way the trio had gotten their asses handed to them, before starting to cough a bit due to his injuries. When a shadow loomed over him, he looked up. The stranger as standing there, his Pichu on his shoulder, both looking down at him with worry.  
"Are you okay? Sorry I couldn't have stopped them earlier, I didn't hear you until you shouted." He gave out his hand, "let me introduce myself. My names Luther, what's yours?" Red took the hand and pulled himself up. "My names Roger, but everyone calls me Red." Luther smiled at him, before his Pichu gave out a chirrup. "Oh and this is Pichu, haven't given him a name yet." The Pichu smiled and nimbly leaped onto Red, and proceeded to lick his face once before giving a cheerful chirp. They chuckled at this, before they turned towards the Lab. "Going to get your first Pokemon eh?" Luther asked.  
"yeah, today's the big day, though it's been spoiled a bit…" Red replied, feeling sour that the bullies had gotten to him. Before he could go any further into his moroseness, Pichu licked him again. "Pichu pich-pichu!" it said, with a serious look. "Pichu's right, you shouldn't let this get you down, you should keep going! That's what being a trainer is all about. It's tough sometimes, but you gotta stay strong, and looking at the positives." Luther smiled at him. It did help a bit, and if he hadn't been beaten up he wouldn't have met Luther…  
"Your right, I should stay strong and keep moving forward." He turned to Luther. "Would you mind staying with me though, just until I get to the lab, if it's okay…?" Red trailed off, feeling awkward. Luther however beamed. "Sure!" he chirped. "I have nothing better to do and I was just here to see the Professor in fact." He turned towards the lab, "let's go then!" he declared, pulling Red along with him.

The two chatted as they walked up to the lab, Red told him of his strong love of Pokemon, and of his dead father. Luther was apparently an only child with only a mom as well, except she wasn't there much due to her Job, which he side-stepped around saying what it was. Red didn't care though; it was nice to have someone to talk to. Luther apparently lived in the Unova with his mom, who was also quite rich apparently. They jogged up the hill to the lab and Red knocked on the door. "Professor?! It's me! Red?!" he heard a muffled "Just a second!" before a man in a lab coat opened the door. His hair seemed to point in just one direction, and he had laugh lines near his eyes. "Welcome Red, good to see you, and Luther! What brings you from Unova? How's your mother?" Luther smiled politely.

"She's great Sir." He replied. Before they could continue with the conversation, Red butted in. "Is there still a Pokemon left sir? Because I ran into Johnny and he said that there are no more Pokemon here, but I didn't believe him because this is a Pokemon lab so there have to be Pokemon right pro-"

"Red! Calm down!" Oak cut in, seeing Red getting more and more worried. Red immediately stopped talking and took a deep breath. "Now, right now we are in the middle of a lack of Pokemon, HOWEVER!" he continued as he saw Red's eyes going wide with grief. "I am in the middle of remaking a Pokemon fossil found in the Unova region, from professor Juniper in fact. So if you come with me..." he turned and set off at a brisk pace into the main room, where red could see a machine with a stone inside. The screen next to it was showing lines of code flying across the screen, with it analyzing a fossil. The professor handed each of the boys a green tinted pair of goggles. "Just in case." He explained. As soon as they put them on, he turned to the screen, and started typing. They heard the machine begin to whir, and the floor beneath the fossil drop and take it down with it. A female monotone called out. "Fossil entered, beginning recreation." The screen showed the fossil having parts of it taken away, scanned for DNA, and rebuilt. Slowly, the screen showed some sort of Pokemon being formed. It had flippers, and had a large shell covering it. Finally, when it was finished, the machine spoke again. "Fossil transformation complete. Scanning…." The machine made a low drone. "Scan shows fossil to be a Tirtouga. Pokedex number; 564." The large bulky side of the machine opened, to reveal a baby Tirtouga, looking up sleepily from its million year old slumber. "Tog?" it called out blearily. The professor smiled.  
"Red, I think we've gotten you your Pokemon."

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Like? RoR please, I Will accept criticism, but just outright flames will be ignored :)


	2. a new friend,fighting, and payback

Hey guys, chapter two's up for reading. enjoy :)

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Chapter 2

Once more Red and Luther set out down the road, Red with his new Pokémon and equipment, while Luther was telling him some tips and tricks to being a good trainer. "And remember, try teaching your Pokémon new moves, and checking for egg moves, those are moves that are learnt when the Pokémon was an egg. My Pichu for example knew Thunder punch when it was born; maybe yours know some cool ones too. You should check your Pokedex; it can read your Pokémon's moves." He took a huge breath and prepared to speak again, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. It seemed to surprise him slightly, and he slowly took it out and opened it.

"Hello... Yeah mum it's me. No I'm fine Mum, I've just left Pallet town… yeah, Pichu's helped a lot… yeah, and I made a friend too… he's…what? Oh. Okay… see you…bye" and with that he switched off his phone, and put it away. His other hand was clenched slightly, like he was angry.  
"What's the matter?" Red asked curiously. Luther sighed.  
"It's nothing." He said through the sigh. He turned to Red. "Come on dude, check your Pokedex, it can tell you it's moves!" He said, apparently over his frustration. Red shrugged off the conversation change and took out his Pokedex, and ran it over his Pokedex.  
_"Tirtouga, the proturtle Pokémon, about 100 million years ago, these Pokémon swam in oceans. It is thought that they also went on land to attack prey. This Pokémon knows; Bide, water gun, bite and rock throw. It has the ability; Sturdy"_

"Wow, those are some good moves. You should probably practise them outside of battling to try and improve them." Luther said, smiling at Red.

Red hummed his agreement, before putting away his Pokedex. "Alright, let's go find some Pokémon." He declared, before marching into the forest.

Ten minutes later, and they were still heading deeper into the woods. They had seen a couple of Pokémon, but nothing that was particularly interesting, or they ran away. Red was getting frustrated, until they heard the sound of fighting off a ways to the left. The two boys looked at each other before jogging over to the fight. They came across a clearing, where two Pokémon were fighting. A bird Pokémon, with a brown and white plumage, was flying erratically around a small purple Pokémon with large ears, and a small horn on the front. It kept circling to meet the birds attack, making sure that if there was contact, it would hit the horn. Reds eyes widened in excitement. "That's a Pidgey and a Nidoran male!" He whispered excitedly, as he watched from the shadow of a tree. Luther was also watching the Pokémon intently. "They look pretty strong don't they? We should catch them." Red looked over to see if he was genuine, and saw that he was. "Alright, but who gets what?" He asked. Red turned to look at the Pokémon. The Nidoran would make a nice addition, and its final evolution WAS pretty strong, but the final Pidgey evolution was very fast and wouldn't be affected by the Nidokings ground moves…

"I'll take the Pidgey" said Luther "I think its final evolution is going to be very powerful. Plus, it never hurts having a Pokémon that can get you from A to B easily." He took out Pichu's pokeball, while Red unbelted Tirtouga's. They stepped into the clearing. "Pichu! Go!" "You to Tirtouga!" They yelled as they threw their pokeball's into the fray. The balls opened and out came their Pokémon. While Pichu landed nimbly, Tirtouga tumble slightly but still ended upright. It saw the two Pokémon fighting and knew it had its first fight. The two Pokémon fighting turned when they heard the pokeball's opening and immediately growled at their attackers. "Pichu, use thundershock on that Pidgey!" Tirtouga, water gun on the Nidoran!" the Pichu tensed before yelling and sending a bolt of lightning at the pidgey, who swooped underneath it and flew towards the Pichu, who was finishing its attack. Meanwhile, Tirtouga opened its mouth and a small hose of water flew it, and hit the Nidoran, who stumbled backwards from the force. "Alright Tirtouga!" "Watch out Pichu!" yelled out Luther, who saw the impact seconds before the Pidgey impacted. It swooped out into the air with the Pichu in its claws, although it was going quite slowly since it wasn't used to so much weight. Luther looked surprised that it tried to take off with it, but quickly recovered. "Pichu! Thunder punch!" Straightaway Pichu stopped squirming and gathered electricity in its hand. The pidgey realised it was gonna get hurt and immediately tried to drop its burden. However, Pichu was having none of that, and clung to the Pidgey as it began to fly into the trees. Then, it slammed its fist into the pidgey underbelly, which caused it to seize up and start falling. Pichu leapt off of it as it crashed into the ground. While this was happening, the Nidoran had begun fighting back; it leapt at Tirtouga and used its beaky mouth to peck its opponent. However, Tirtouga barely flinched at the contact, and immediately responded with bite, which cause the Nidoran to growl in pain. It tried to crawl out of the attack but was held onto firmly by Tirtouga. "Alright finish this Tirtouga! Use rock throw, but with the Nidoran!" Red called out. Tirtouga immediately smashed the Nidoran's head into the floor and, with some stones added in, threw the Pokémon against a tree. The tree nearly snapped under the weight and the Nidoran fell down to the floor, with swirls in its eyes. "Alright! We got him! Nice one Tirtouga!" "You too Pichu! You guys were amazing!" the two Pokémon smiled at each other and then at their owners. Red and Luther both pulled out a free pokeball and tossed them at their respective spoils. They both went into the pokeball, and after three rocks, the balls "dinged" to signify their capture was successful. Cheering, they each pulled out their pokedexes and scanned their respective captures.

_"Pidgey, the tiny bird Pokémon, it is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed however, it can ferociously strike back. This Pokémon knows; Quick attack, sand attack, gust and brave bird. Its ability is keen eye."_

_"Nidoran male, the Poison pin Pokémon, it scans its surrounding by raising its ears out of the grass. Its toxic horn is for protection. This Pokémon knows; Peck, poison sting, double kick, and poison tail. Its ability is Poison point."_

Both of the boys smiled at each other. "Looks like we got some strong Pokémon huh?" Luther said humorously.

"Yeah, they are pretty good." Red agreed. "I'm gonna let mine out and try and heal it. Do you mind staying a while?" he asked.

"Sure, I got some bandages and potions on me." Luther replied, kneeling down. He opened up the pokeball and allowed the weak and injured Pidgey to have some light. Red did the same with his, while both Tirtouga and Pichu lay near their trainers and rested.

Three hours later, and they were off again, with their catches in better health, and seeming all the more warmer to them because of it. The pidgey had stayed perched on Luther's shoulder, while the Nidoran had decided to walk besides its trainer, looking for all the world like a body guard. As the boys walked they talked some more, commenting on the Pokémon that watched them from the undergrowth. The weedle, caterpie, and wurmple in the trees, and Red swore he saw a carnivine hanging from a tree, but on the whole they took a leisurely stroll towards Petalburg. "The way I see it, the Pokémon aren't gonna leave the place, so we may as well take our time." Explained Luther as they walked. However, the silence was shattered by a shout of "OI! NEEK!" Pokémon scurried away, or flew off as the two boys turned towards the sound of the shout. Behind them, stood Johnny, by himself, with a pokeball in his hand and an arrogant smirk on his face. "I bet I can take you on in a fight, my Pokémon are obviously gonna be better than yours." Luther was about to take out his pokeball, and Nidoran start growling at the intruder, but Red stopped both of them. "It is okay guys, I got this." He turned to Johnny. "Alright, what are your terms?" Johnny approached them, tossing and catching the pokeball in his hand. "A one on one battle with no tag in's or team switching. Unless you're chicken?" Red simply took out Tirtouga's pokeball. "Alright then, GO! Charmander!" Johnny chucked a ball into the air, and out came a charmander, looking as confident as his trainer. "Alright then. Let's go Tirtouga!" He also threw a ball, and out came his Tirtouga. "TOOUUGA!" It bellowed, feeling his trainers hate for this opponent. "Ha! And here I was thinking this would be hard!" Johnny laughed. "Alright then, Charmander! EMBER!" he called out. The charmander sucked in some air, before belching out some flames towards its opponent, who took it…and didn't move an inch. "What the? Charmander! Again!" once more the charmander sucked in air, but before it could finish, Red started, "Water gun Tirtouga!" he exclaimed. As the flames left Charmander's mouth, Tirtouga sucked in some air also, and spewed water out of its mouth. The water doused the flames and hit the charmander and sent it flailing backwards. "Now! Use rocks throw!" Red commanded. Tirtouga immediately dug into the dirt, found a decent sized rock, and threw it forcefully at the struggling charmander. "Dodge and use scratch!" Johnny cried out desperately. The Charmander rolled out of the way, and charged slightly dazedly towards the Tirtouga. Its paw took on a white light, and when it reached its target, it sliced downwards…. Too little effect. Tirtouga merely snorted at the offending Pokémon, before biting its leg. The charmander screeched in pain, and fell out of the attack. "Now Tirtouga, finish it with water gun!" Red called out. Again it filled its mouth with water, before sending it at the charmander, who had no time to move out of the way before being sent hurtling back to its trainer's feet, knocked out. Johnny gaped at the collapsed form of his Charmander before snatching it up and getting out of there. Red whooped as he saw Johnny's rapidly accelerating form disappear into the forest. "YEAH! Nice one Tirtouga, you're the best!" He picked up the rather heavy Pokémon and spun it around. Luther clapped him on the back, while his Nidoran bowed its head in respect at Tirtouga defending his trainer. "Well done Red, you stood that guy up like it was nothing." Red smiled at the praise.  
"Thanks. I guess he underestimated me, maybe next time I won't be so lucky." He frowned in the direction Johnny ran off. "I wonder where his friends went off to. Anyway, I think we should do some training, increase attack strength or something." Luther nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we could just train for a while, set up camp here, and be on the way to Petalburg in the morning." He replied. "Sounds good to me." Red agreed. In a few minutes they had put up tents and put their stuff in them, and had headed off a ways to train.

"Alright, go! Nidoran!" Red called out. "Use double kick on that tree over there!" Nidoran voiced his consent, and moved over to the tree before spinning and hitting the side of the tree with his two back legs. Two large gashes appeared across the bark, but they weren't very deep. "Hmm, try again Nidoran!" Red barked, and so Nidoran tried again, and this time the gashes were slightly deeper. Then Red had an idea. "Nidoran, get back and charge it, the use the momentum to power up the Double kick!" he called. Straight away Nidoran leapt back a ways, before charging the offending tree and, just before he rammed it, span and let his rear legs hit it. The effect nearly ripped open the tree, and it tilted slightly under the sudden change in support. "Alright nice one Nidoran! Now, let's combine poison tail into it." This time Nidoran chose a different tree and charged it once again, only this time its tail was glowing bright pink, and as it leapt, it spun and all three limbs hit the tree. It had the same effect as last time, except now there was an odd colour spreading rapidly from the gash. "Again! Same tree but higher!" Red called out. Nidoran obeyed, and soon there was another gash but higher above the first one, and it too seemed to be oozing a bad colour. "Excellent Nidoran, you did well! Return!" and Nidoran went back into its pokeball. He then called out Tirtouga. "Alright Boy, we're gonna try and learn a new move…"

Two hours later, and both trainers returned to the camp site to rest and eat. "How's your Pokémon Red?" Luther asked as he started a fire. Red sighed as he eased out a few muscles by stretching. "It's going great; Nidoran and I have been working on some moves, and Tirtouga's really good with his aim." He smiled at his Pokémon, who were resting quietly near the centre. "What about yours?" Red asked. Luther smiled. "Their doing brilliantly, Pidgey and Pichu are really outdoing themselves." He turned and smiled at his two Pokémon, who were resting next to Red's. Then he seemed to turn solemn, and Red noticed. "What's the matter Luther?" he asked. Luther responded with a long sigh. "I was just wondering… how long should we stick together? I mean this wasn't exactly what I planned, I wanted to start in Unova, then work backwards, because, because I always thought it would take less time." He paused here, looking off into the distance. "Maybe it would be more fun if we did this, because it means that I can go around with a friend." Red looked up sharply at this, hopeful that he was serious. "Do you mean that?" he asked. Luther smiled at him, "sure, you're a nice guy, and journeys can take a very long time, so why not?" Red beamed at him. "Thanks Luther, you're a good friend." Luther chuckled, and turned back to the fire, which he had just managed to put together. "No problem, now come on, hand me my bag, I need to get some food out to cook." After that, they finished their meals, put their Pokémon back in their balls, and went into their respective tents, happy at the turn events, to sleep.

The next morning, they reassembled their stuff, and began walking again, taking in the sights and sounds of the route. They soon came up to a more civilised path, with a road and pavement, and realised they were coming to the end of their first route. They saw the town ahead, and smiled as they headed towards it, knowing that they had someone to watch their backs and support them through the days ahead.


End file.
